Evaluación ambiental del proceso de urbanización de las cuencas del piedemonte andino de Santiago de Chile

Abstract

Watersheds are complex environmental systems, where geomorphologic, hydrologic, climatic and ecological processes take place, and which are severely impacted by urbanisation. In this paper, six Santiago Andean piedmont watersheds have been researched according with the degree of urbanisation that they reach, which varies between Macul-San Ramón where about 40% of their land covers has been already urbanised, until Pirque, where agricultural and rural features are still dominants. Using geographical information systems, the impact of urbanization on several ecological indicators, such as vegetative productivity biomass, soil moisture and surface temperature are analysed. Total Imperviousness Areas, Runoff Coefficients and Environmentally Sensitive Areas allow the estimation of the state of the watersheds ant their contribution to the environmental health of Santiago city. © 2006 Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Estudios Urbanos Instituto de Estudios Urbanos y Territoriales.